JD(S) supporters fielded in MYMUL polls to counter GTD’s “conspiracy” to finish party, claims S R Mahesh
(Laiqh A Khan)
Former Minister S.R. Mahesh said he had fielded supporters of the JD(S) in the recently concluded elections to Mysuru District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Societies’ Union Ltd (MYMUL) to counter the alleged designs of former Minister G.T. Deve Gowda to ‘finish’ the party in the district.
Addressing a press conference, a day after the syndicate led by Mr. Gowda bagged 12 out of the 15 posts of Directors in the MYMUL elections held on Tuesday, Mr. Mahesh said the party supporters would have won two more seats had 86 votes not been declared as invalid. Though it had very little time to prepare for the elections, Mr. Mahesh said he was satisfied that the JD(S) supporters had won three seats and claimed that the party had begun sowing seeds for its presence in the cooperative sector of the district.
It may be mentioned here that the MYMUL elections had turned into a prestige battle between Mr. Mahesh and Mr. Gowda, who had fallen out with the party leadership. The run-up to the elections even saw former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy participate in the campaign.
GTD reacts
Mr. Gowda, meanwhile, said the cooperative elections are not fought on political lines and regretted the efforts to politicise the cooperative body. Claiming that he had been serving the cooperative sector for several decades, Mr .Gowda expressed satisfaction that a majority of his supporters had won the elections. “It is a victory of the cooperative sector”, he said.
Mr. Mahesh said the party was forced to constitute a syndicate to counter Mr. Gowda after he systematically began targeting candidates and aspirants who were JD(S) supporters. He accused Mr. Gowda of joining hands with candidates supporting the Congress and BJP.
Reacting to Mr. Gowda’s allegation that he was misleading Mr. Kumaraswamy, Mr. Mahesh said he was trying to actively build the party in the district after Mr. Gowda began staying away from party affairs. “I had considered you to be the supreme leader of Mysuru district. If you have anything against me, please tell me. I will retire from politics”, Mr. Mahesh added.
